Abstract
An increase or decrease in headspace volume of the flexible pouches replaced with oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and their mixtures were investigated. The changes in volume were associated with the physicochemical properties of gases and packaging materials, the initial gas compositions within the pouches and storage temperature.
Using brown rice as a model system, packaging tests were also conducted against living or oxygen-sensitive foods from the view point of volume changes of the packaging pouch. When oxygen uptake rate of the in-package food became in equilibrium with permeation rate of oxygen which penetnated the packaging materials, in-package nitrogen were eliminated from the pouch because of its higher partial pressure than ambient environment.
